Arcana "Raspail"

After four years of waiting, ARCANA now release their first album with the German label, their seventh though if I'm not counting the MCD's. Rather lyrical and saturated in Atmospheric-Ambient sequences, "Raspail" transcends you towards another realm, unknown, purely imaginative, full of melancholic romanticism - overwhelming and depressing from time to time, with all kinds of percussion's, multiple choirs, soul uplifting female voices, mighty male ones, plus a superb acoustic guitar heard now and then ("Out Of The Grey Ashes"), a complete orchestra... there seem to be tens of instruments... hundreds even... sorry if I'm bringing DEAD CAN DANCE in the comparison again, but the sound resembles theirs strikingly ... Peter's voice is mature and has an unique beauty, penetrating everything around, while the arsenal of sonorous elements is much, much more diverse than it ever has been before (Mattias's implication is clearly felt). Obviously, this is the most complex album in their history, yet not the most expressive one. On certain sequences ARCANA's own scents are pale and fade, so that you need to be very careful to spot the whispers too. If you listen to it only once, these parts become fade... yet, if listening to the album alone, in solitude, in a room with good acoustics, or in you're headphones, on a pretty high volume, you'll certainly turn fascinated by RASPAIL! I love this album! And "Lost In Time" is sublime, full of atmospheric nobleness! "Invisible Motions" is dynamic too, while "Parisal" is full of Oriental cultures, tribal even. The ten tracks are somehow transient to me, but on the other hand, I realize that if their number would have been 20, I would have sensed the same... because I cannot keep track of the time while I'm listening to this album. The booklet potentates the dreamy universe, and the imagery perfectly resonates with ARCANA. A truly beautiful CD, even though some of you might have been waiting for this album to be more imposing. No, the Swedes continue on transmitting their present state of mind and soul on every one of their albums, and their current mood, is apparently more fragile and introverted... magnificent though! Melancholic, Medieval, Modern Classical, Ambient, Acoustic... refined… it all means ARCANA.